That's a bit of a stretch, I'd say. In this specific case, unless the mayor's tenure is actually benefiting drug crime more than a $200,000 cash infusion would, I don't see how this could be a net positive.
If it were a matter of "give an illegal bribe to an aide who filmed something illegal being done by an already-corrupt official," that would be different. It's still not "life-saving research" unless that corruption is actually costing lives, but it fits with your argument.
I don't think that's what's going on here. The author seems right on target: They're trying to do something that will incidentally (but obviously) fund a whole lot more harm than it's likely to save.
If we think about it as an isolated case then I completely agree.
However, I think that if we can get this video out there, it might help start a discussion about corruption "raise awareness" and all that kind of hard to measure stuff.
My feeling is that the positive is that this doesn't just go away because a couple of people weren't compelled to do the right thing and just release the video. It's not a totally clean victory having to pay these guys, but IMHO well worth it.
Then again, maybe people just don't care, see: Marion Barry.
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That's a bit of a stretch, I'd say. In this specific case, unless the mayor's tenure is actually benefiting drug crime more than a $200,000 cash infusion would, I don't see how this could be a net positive.
If it were a matter of "give an illegal bribe to an aide who filmed something illegal being done by an already-corrupt official," that would be different. It's still not "life-saving research" unless that corruption is actually costing lives, but it fits with your argument.
I don't think that's what's going on here. The author seems right on target: They're trying to do something that will incidentally (but obviously) fund a whole lot more harm than it's likely to save.
If we think about it as an isolated case then I completely agree.
However, I think that if we can get this video out there, it might help start a discussion about corruption "raise awareness" and all that kind of hard to measure stuff.
My feeling is that the positive is that this doesn't just go away because a couple of people weren't compelled to do the right thing and just release the video. It's not a totally clean victory having to pay these guys, but IMHO well worth it.
Then again, maybe people just don't care, see: Marion Barry.
Edit: toned it down a little.